Rebel to Internet Sensation, how bow dah?

If you haven’t heard of the newest catchphrase, “cash me outside, how bow dah?” then there’s a good chance you’ve been living under a rock. Or maybe you’ve just been smart and avoided social media since 2017 started because wow, it’s been a lot. Let me so graciously fill you in. The Dr. Phil Show, a popular talk show where the host, Phil McGraw, brings on people in crises for what can only be called an intervention, recently hosted a 13-year-old spitfire of skinny, redheaded fury with a mouth from the ‘streets.’ She went on the show after her mother deemed her “out of control” and when the audience started laughing during part of her segment, her response was simply…

Cash me outside, how bow dah?

And that’s when, ladies and gentlemen, the Internet lost its mind.

Dr. Phil has a lot of guests on his show and a lot of their stories are pretty crazy. From little girls hearing voices in their heads to teachers sleeping with students to a teen who claims she’s pregnant with baby Jesus (yes, this happened), the show is no stranger to the weird happenings that we call humanity. So why did 13-year-old Danielle Bregoli’s famous line go viral?

The social media experts behind Unmarketing suggest picking one of the following areas to focus on: the message must be funny, have the WOW factor, or evoke emotion. Ding, ding ding… guess what this viral clip had? ALL 3. Triple blow-up!

Funny? Check.

WOW factor? Um, check.

Evokes emotion? Let’s be real here… check.

“Cash me outside” was a very specific type of virality, called “outbreak virality.” This is the notion that some things spread simply because they’re fun to share. I don’t know about you, but my friends and I have been talking incessantly about Queen Danielle Bregoli, following her on her social media, keeping up-t0-date on her new interviews, watching her get in an airplane fight with a passenger (yep), and anything and everything related to this Internet meme.

Whether you love her or hate her, people talked.

The cash me outside girl is literally so disgustingly disrespectful. People really need to stop filling her head and hyping her up.

Everyone wants to go viral. Some people intentionally try, and for others, it just happens. Why did this seemingly average (by Dr. Phil standards) video go viral? According to Ilya Pozin at Forbes, viral content must be “short and sweet.” It only took the short phrase, “cash me outside” to ‘cash’ the attention of millions. Viral content is simple, it’s shareable, and it’s fleeting.